Training company buys Oldham hotel

A TRAINING provider has launched a new on-site catering and hospitality training academy after buying The Bower Hotel at Chadderton, near Oldham.

Blue Training UK has bought the hotel for an undisclosed sum and said that it intends to spend a further six figures refurbishing the building and transforming a building at the rear of the site into a hospitality & catering academy. Funding has been provided by NatWest.

Blue Training UK was set up by Philip Healey in 2003. The business, which employs 15 staff, said that it would relocate its operations to the hotel from its existing base in Salford.

It said that the academy would offer hospitality-related apprenticeships, including food production and cooking, bar service, housekeeping and front of house reception.  

Each apprentice will study at the academy for three months and be offered the chance to gain experience by working at the hotel while they study. They will then move into full-time employment and return to the academy on a day-release basis to complete their training. 

The Bower Hotel, which was built in the Victorian era by a wealthy cotton mill owner, has 72 bedrooms, three conference rooms and its own restaurant.  

Mr Healey said: “It has taken us 18 months to identify the right sight on which to launch the academy concept.  We chose the Bower Hotel due to its excellent transport links and the fact that it has a good, well-established reputation.”

NatWest business development manager Mark Collier said: “Philip has created a unique and original concept to deliver vocational training and practical experience from the same location.

“He has a very strong background in all aspects of training, hospitality and hotel management and we are very happy to support his plans.”